Aftermath
by TheLostWeasleyDaughter
Summary: Ginny straightened her emerald tie before she headed into her first class of her final year. But when an assignment stresses the youngest Weasley to her breaking point, who will be there to comfort her? And with a new world, and a new year, new emotions come to light. What happens when Ginny reveals secrets she's kept for far too long to an unexpected guest?


Sixteen and a half year old Ginny Weasley walked down the corridors, her skirt swishing behind her. Her fiery curls tumbled down her back, eager to meet at the base of her spine. Books in hand, she walked down the halls with her best friend Luna Lovegood to their Charms class. Luna, being the same age as her older youngest brother Ron, was of course a year ahead of her. But due to the war, Luna, and all the seventh years last year, got the option to finish their schooling. Hermione took it gratefully, happy to be in school and actually prepare for life in the Wizarding World. Harry and her brother had chosen to take the Ministry's offer and work as Aurors, everyone knew, that with Harry's reputation, with him on their side they'd never lose.

They stopped at the doors, and looked at eachother. This was the first class of the year, and it held much anticipation. As Ginny watched Luna disappear through the door, she pulled her shoulders back, held her head high, and straightened her emerald tie. Opening the doors she quickly made her way to her seat in the Slytherin section of the class room. She sat between Astoria Greengrass, and Viola Richmond. Twenty minutes had passed, and the girls were already way off topic. Ginny closed her eyes and tried to qualm her Weasley temper. It wouldn't be good for her to snap at her housemates, especially in her favorite class.

Today they were jumping head first, learning about atmospheric charms and how to reverse them. Ginny, who found this very interesting, was getting more and more upset at the two girls next to her.

"Oh totally. Have you seen him? He's got one of the best bodies in Hogwarts!"

"Mmm, you're right. But I think that Blaise can't compete with Draco. He may be second best, but it's too far apart to even be close."

"Did I tell you about the time I saw Draco shirtless after he was practicing? It was the best thirty seconds of my life. He even nodded at me." The two girls squealed, quietly, in delight.

"Oi!" she gently put her pencil down and the two girls stopped talking instantly. "I actually want to hear about this. I know, for a fact, you two have every single class together, because that's all I've heard you talk about. So, unless you _don't_ want to know how to reverse what I'm going to do to your room tonight, stop. Talking." Ginny hissed. The two girl's eyes widened. They turned to the board and hurriedly wrote down everything. Needless to say, they were silent for the rest of the class. Our little Weasley had made quite the reputation for herself. When the Carrows ruled over the school, they didn't care about houses, they didn't care about names, or friends. They cared about blood status, and being a blood traitor didn't sit well with them, Slytherin or not. When the name Ginny Weasley was spoken, people thought of the resistance leader. The fiery girl who led the fight against the carrows. The girl whose Bat-Boggy Hex could peel paint.

The period continued and the students were released. Luna quickly made her way through the throng of students to her best friend.

"What did you say to them?"

"Why whatever do you mean?" Ginny gave Luna her best innocent look which, to most people, would be pretty convincing. But Luna knew better than that. Lifting one eyebrow, she gave Ginny the look. The look she had perfected over the years of dealing with Ginny. Said girl's mask cracked and she grinned from ear to ear.

"I just told them they may have some incentive to pay attention to the lesson..." Ginny drawled. Luna sighted and rolled her eyes.

A common thought amongst most people about Slytherin's, is that all of them are rich purebloods, who all loved the Dark Lord and had money to spare. But our little snake of a Weasley isn't common. Although she tries very hard to avoid being friends with anyone in Gryffindor, just to avoid harassment from her housemates, she had made it a goal last year to, at least, have one friend in each house. Although, her first "friends" in Gryffindor had left her to deal with the Carrows on her own, and didn't have much to do with her after she got sorted, and left her bitter and sore from loss, Ginny tried not to let that give her a prejudice against the house, which was easier said than done, but she had managed to do it.

"Come on, you have to get to Divination, and I have to get to Herbology." They took out their wands and sent their books to their respective dorms. Within seconds of their Charms books dissipating, more books replaced them. They walked to the Herbology lab, and Ginny said goodbye to her friend.

Ginny walked to class and quickly took a seat in the back. She was the second one here and not in the mood to listen to any more gossip. As more people filed in Ginny realized that it might not be possible for her to get any peace and quite in this hour without some persuasion either. Pansy Parkinson sat in front of her, and Blaise Zabini on her left, she could only assume that, if Draco was in the class, he'd be next to her as well. But Blaise usually kept both of them in line. Time went on and the students weren't coming in anymore, and it was apparent that Draco wasn't in the class.

Blaise and Pansy had talked a few times, only about dirt on people they had dug up through the break. No one knew it, but Blaise was the Blackmail King in Hogwarts. He had dirty laundry on everyone in Hogwarts, including a few professors. Ginny sighed as she heard Pansy shift closer to Blaise, laughing obnoxiously at something that happened in the hallway.

"I take it you heard something interesting?"

"Oh yes. This is probably one of the best kept secrets of Hogwarts students ever."

"I'm dying to hear about it." Ginny said as she flicked and eye to look at Blaise, who was wearing his trademark smirk.

"I'm sorry love, but I can't just tell you. Remember our deal? A secret for a secret." Ginny thumped her head against the table. So far the only secrets he knew about her were one, she had to wear bunny slippers until the week before she went to Hogwarts, two, her owl's name was Pigwidgeon, and three, she still had nightmares of Tom Riddle, this secret Blaise learned about one night three years ago when he found her in the common room curled into a fist. He vowed on his own life never to give out, or pick at her about.

Professor Trelawney walked to the front of the class room. She handed out tea cups and saucers then poured tea into everyone's cups. The students sipped on their tea and talked amongst themselves. Ginny and Blaise were sitting in comfortable silence, while Pansy was talking about some boy she had lead through the summer. A grin plastered itself on Ginny's face as a secret flew through her mind.  
"Blaise, did I ever tell you about last Christmas?"

"I do not believe so love, why?"

"Well, you said a secret for a secret… do you want the biggest blackmail you could have on my brother?"

"Which one?"

"The only one I'd tell you about."

"Oh, Ron?" Blaise mentally debated for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, so last Christmas we had some distant family over. The majority of them girls, and they were all pretty hot." Blaise gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. "I'm straight, not blind. Anyway, one of them was flirting with Ron. Not just the flirty laugh and hand on the arm. No, she pretty much stuck her hand down his pants every time she could. After dinner she said she was feeling tired. So my mum, of course, sent Ron to do it because they "got along so well". I wasn't up there so I can't tell you how it started, but I know Ron didn't start it. After about twenty minutes my mum wanted to know where Ron was, so she went upstairs with everyone else in tow. The cousins were staying on the top floor of the Burrow, so we climbed like, six flights of stairs to get to them. My mom burst through the door and found Ron sitting on the bed, our cousin on her knees in front of him." Blaise, who was sipping his tea at the time, choked it down as he tried not to spit it out. "Needless to say, everyone in the house saw more of Ron than we'd ever like to see. Ever." Blaise set down his cup and nodded his head.

"Alright, that's definitely worth this secret. Next time though, I want some more dirt on Potter." Ginny stuck out her pinky and Blaise wrapped his around hers.

"Deal. So, what's this secret you learned today?"

"Pansy Parkinson slept with Neville Longbottom."

"What!?" Ginny toned down her voice when everyone looked at her, "What?" she whispered to Blaise, taking another drink of her tea. Blaise silently nodded his head as he took another drink of his tea. They sat in silence for the rest of the first half of the class.  
Too soon, everyone was done with their tea, and Professor Trelawney walked around the classroom, peering over the edges of everyone's cups. She finally made her way to Blaise.

"What do you see?"

"You're the professor, you tell me."

"I see a mole. Now tell me what that means." She smiled at him, and he tried to remember. Ginny sighed. She flipped through the pages of her Divination book and scooted it closer to the boy. He looked down and deadpanned.

"If you are to see a mole in the tea leaves, it means that you are a revealer of secret matters." Ginny started to giggle and used a cough to cover it. Now the professor was peering into Ginny's cup.

"Ahh, the raven. Please, tell me what it means." Ginny flipped a few pages and ran her finger down until she saw the word.

"The raven is thought to move between the worlds of the dead and living," Ginny took a deep breath, "if the raven appears, you are about to experience a change in consciousness." Ginny gave a perplexed look at the pages but Trelawney had already moved on. Ginny didn't say anything for the rest of the class, she was too lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

The day went on as normal. Luna met her at the doors, and they walked to an uneventful lunch. Ginny had to admit, things were bland with half Golden Trio out of Hogwarts. But it was better than having a troll in the bathrooms, and a secrete, talking diary stashed under her bed. It also meant that no first years were running to her, asking her if she knew Harry bloody Potter. So, Ginny was content with their absence.

Ginny handed Luna her Divination book in trade for Luna's Herbology book. Ginny went to her Herbology class. They were taken out to the forbidden forest in search for some root Ginny didn't care about. Instead of looking, Ginny found a quite spot away from everyone else. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Her mind racing a million miles a second about what had happened in Divination. She sighed as she heard the professor calling them back, not happy at all about where she had to go next.

She walked into her least favorite class, a scowl carved into her face. Now, being a Slytherin, most people expected her to love potions because the teacher being their former house advisor, but Ginny had never had the knack for it. She entered the classroom and took her seat without a word. Within minutes she felt a presence next to her and she stiffened. It seemed that all of the other seats were full, because the Prince of Slytherin himself sat next to her. But she did have a window seat, and she was grateful for being there early.

Many of the Slytherins were afraid of the Prince, some even worshiped the ground he walked on. But Ginny couldn't stray from her Weasley upbringing, no matter what house she was sorted into. She couldn't stand how arrogant he was. Always bragging to people about which girl he'd had that night, which girl he snogged three hours later. She may have despised the Golden Trio at one point, but she was disgusted by Draco Malfoy. But this year he seemed, different. He was quite, reserved. Ginny was honestly surprised to see him, but when you're in the middle of war, you don't really have time for school. Since she learned that it was Lucius who put the diary in her cauldron her first year, any Malfoy made her stomach flip, so sitting next to him, after lunch, made her feel sick. The new professor, whose name Ginny couldn't remember, stepped to the front of the room and began writing notes on the board about a potion they were supposed to make that night. Ginny wrote down every scribbled word, wrote down everything she said about the potion, but she was still, almost, one hundred percent sure she wouldn't get this right.

"Now," she said right before the end of the class, "I'm new, and I have have no problem being a nice professor, but potions is my life. To ensure your potion be top notch, I've decided that for every potion that is not perfect, I will take house points away. How many I take away, depends on the quality of your potion. Dismissed."Everyone filed out of the class room. Many students sought help in the smartest students, begging them to work together.

* * *

Ginny snuck down the halls, careful not to be seen by anyone. Turn after turn, the youngest Weasley made her way to her intended destination, the Room of Requirement. When she reached the right wall she closed her eyes.

 _'Please, please, let me in.'_ Ginny opened her eyes and smiled at the familiar door knob sticking out of the wall. Quickly she entered and was greeted by a large room. A huge, white, L shaped couch, with extended cushions was pushed against the far left wall with a fluffy emerald blanket draped along the back. A stain glass coffee table sat in front of the couch covered with every potion material ever needed. A full kitchen was to the right, and a bathroom door was on the back wall. This room was a familiar sight to the Weasley daughter. She spent most of her time here through the last year when this room wasn't being used for retaliation training. After her detentions, if you could call torture detention, with the Carrows, Ginny would come here to recover, a full pot of warm cider and a first aid kit on the table waiting for her.

Ginny flopped down on the couch and pulled out her potions notes. She checked her cauldron, a nasty habit she'd gotten after her first year and got to work.

* * *

Before she knew it, three hours passed and she still hadn't made the potion right. She burnt two tries, over stirred three, and one had exploded in her face. With a huff, Ginny threw the spoon she was using across the room. She put her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. She heard the door open and a few footsteps filled the room. She knew it must be after dinner, and Luna knew that she would go there to work, so without looking Ginny began to talk.

"Not now Luna. I know I missed dinner, but I have to get this potion right. I just… it's been hard alright? It's just that... this is my last year, I've got to make something out of what I've done... It's been so hard to focus though, you know? I told you earlier this summer that the dreams were back, but they're bad Luna, really- " Ginny looked up and froze, it wasn't Luna standing at the door, although they did share the same hue of hair. It was none other than the Slytherin Prince who stood at the door, staring at the vulnerable Weasley. Slowly he made his way to the couch and sat next to her. She wiped her eyes and glared at him.

"What, you don't have a comment on how gross I look? Or how poor my family is? Or, maybe how a Slytherin shouldn't be afraid of death, especially after what we just went through?" Ginny let out a cynical laugh and shook her head.

"What? You think you're the only one who was scared? I'll let you in on a little _secret_. My _father_ was a death eater. My _mother_ was practically sisters with, _his_ , right hand woman. My family was right in the _middle_ of the bloody war and I didn't want to be a part of it. Do you think that I wanted my house to be the epicenter of Hell? Do you think I wanted to lose the father I had just got back? But by all means, go ahead and tell me that your life is worse than mine."

"My entire family, every single person, was forced right in the middle with you. All of my friends. Every single person who showed the slightest bit of interest in me, friends or otherwise, had the highest chance of getting killed, because Tom Riddle was still a part of me to the very end. I could feel him inside of me. For the last six years, I woke up screaming because he came back to me again. I thought that if I reached under my bed, I'd find that diary and I'd be back in my own hell. He sat at the end of my bed every night, and whispered to me. Tom would whisper to me that a real Slytherin wouldn't hide. He wanted me to kill my family. And sometimes, I wanted give into him. And that pisses me off.

"But the worst part about all of that is, I was worried about people who didn't talk to me. Who make me stay locked up in my room when I was there. Who didn't want anything to do with me until I came home broken from Cruciatus after Cruciatus. The only people who accepted me in my family before I joined the Order are three of my brothers, and one of them is dead." Draco fliched at how that word echoed. "The only time Ron talks to me is when I piss him off. And I only do that to hear his voice. Your family may not talk to you, or show you love, but you're used to it. I grew up in a close family, the only girl, then I lost it. It's like I'm trapped in a fishbowl with a shark, pounding on the glass to get help before it eats me, but no one's looking. I'm alone. Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord himself, was my only constant"

Draco was nervous. In the middle of her rant, Ginny had started to cry. Draco was never good with crying girls. Usually all he had to do was just tell them to leave his room enough and they'd just go and he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. But in the last year he had been the one to comfort his mother after the beatings, after the curses. But this situation was completely different. He had bared a part of himself to a Weasley, and she had just poured her soul out to him, he couldn't just leave her like that. What Draco did next even surprised him.

Gently he reached out and wiped her tears off her cheeks. Ginny looked up with him, big doe eyes glittering with unshed tears. This was the first time he had really seen Ginny up close. Her half lidded honey eyes had flecks of gold and green in them. Constellations of freckles dotted her entire body. She had a button nose, and her lips were light pink and plump. Her curls were loose, and her bangs were half covering her eyes. Long black lashes stood out against pale skin, and Draco felt something that he hadn't felt his entire existence. He couldn't name the feeling simmering in his stomach, spreading to his arms, but he gave into it, not caring what happened.

His hands cupped her face as his lips lightly brushed hers. Ginny gasped, a jolt running through her body. This was new, this was, wonderful. She leaned into him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for another sweet kiss. Soon, the sweet, soft kisses turned passionate. Draco lay Ginny down and left a trail of butterfly light kisses along the freckle path down her neck and to her collarbone, despratly wanting to count each one, catalogue them into his memory. Ginny let out a small gasp as he he kissed her jaw and he smirked into her skin. In retaliation she gently placed kisses on his neck and shoulder, leaving him breathless.

Soon, though the two broke the sudden contact, and Ginny and Draco sat awkwardly next to each other.

"That was..." Draco drawled.

"Unexpected." Ginny finished for him. He nodded in agreement.

"But it was..."

"Nice." They both said. Ginny flushed, the pink tinge creeping up her neck.

"So, Liquid Luck?" Draco asked, placing a hesitant hand on hers.

"Yeah. I just can't get it right." Ginny said, twining her fingers with his slowly.

"Yeah, it's confusing. I had to change some things around. Here," Draco helped Ginny step by step, showing her what things were changed, but when it came time to start brewing, Ginny had to check the pot first, which Draco didn't fail to notice.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?." Ginny asked, a brow raised.

"That whole, checking your pot thing..."

"Oh, it's because, that's where I found the diary..." Ginny looked at the floor and Draco squeezed her hand.

"I…" Draco took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. Tom Riddle can't hurt you. The cauldron is not Tom Riddle. The cauldron won't hurt you. Every time you brew you burn away the memory. Heat of the cauldron first, then his memory won't be there. And, if you ever dream of him again, send me an owl, come here and I'll be here with you, alright?" Ginny laughed but agreed none the less. "What's so funny?"

"You. You're being so nice. What's up with that?"

"I don't know. Call it the aftermath of war,or call it something else, but I call them feelings."

"Who knew you had those." Ginny smiled at the boy, who looked genuinely hurt. A pang in Ginny's heart made her feel instantly terrible. "Draco, I was only kidding!"

"You called me Draco" Draco smiled, a true, beautiful, perfect smile. He shook his head when Ginny blushed and picked up the ingredients from the table. The two brewed the potion, making sure that the cauldron was heated first, and Ginny was comfortable with the new routine.

The two finished the potion, and Ginny yawned, leaning against Draco as she rubbed her eyes.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Draco stood up and helped her to her feet. The two snuck back to the dungeons, avoiding Flitch at every turn.

"Good night Draco." Ginny called from the top of the stairs to the girls rooms. Draco walked down the stairs to the boys rooms, happy and confused. He was happy because he finally felt like the weight that had been on his shoulders was lifted. But on the other hand he was confused, because now that Ginny wasn't there next to him the simmering in his stomach turned to a dull, empty feeling. Up in the girls dorms, Ginny was feeling the same way, unsure of what was to come from the new world, the new her, and the new Draco.

* * *

The next day in potions, only few house points were taken off, and Ginny smiled at Draco. He quickly flashed her a small smile and quick nod. Ginny took out a piece of parchment and scribbled something down quickly. At the end of class she was the first to leave, but sitting on Draco's book was the corner to a piece of parchment.  
 _'Draco,  
I'll see you tonight, we have to talk  
~Ginny'_


End file.
